Ultimate Travel Guide

The Best Seasons for Travel

When it comes to travel, timing is everything. Flying to Japan in cherry blossom season, touring Iceland beneath the Northern Lights, or rumbling across the Maasai Mara as the wildebeest make their great migration: all picture-perfect moments you just can't capture year-round. So how do you plan for travel seasonality? How do weather, wildlife and wild parties affect your itinerary? You start by doing your research. Introducing our ultimate guide of where to go, and when to go there.

The Add-on's

For most of us, vacation time is limited to just a week or two, but that doesn't mean you need to rush through your next adventure. Got a temple you're dying to see? Heard about an epic day trip? Our Short Breaks let you to add a few more days to your adventure – plenty of time to check items off that Bucket List.

7 Days From
$5,110

Festival Seasons

Some of our favorite memories of the road involve getting swept up in some street festival, catching a glimpse of a traditional wedding, or dancing the night away with samba-dancing locals. From the holy waters of the Ganges and the graveyards of Mexico to the tulip fields and orange groves of Europe, festival season never truly dies. Here are some of our top picks for festivals around the world.

6 Days From
$1,425

Monsoon Season

Monsoons are caused by a reversal of winds - cool sea breezes meeting warm gusts from the land. They result in strong winds, torrential rainfall and some truly spectacular electrical storms. As a safety precaution, we don't operate tours in regions that are at risk of flooding or landslides during monsoon season. But that doesn't mean the rest of the monsoonal world is off limits. In fact, a lot of travelers prefer to adventure during the wet season. There are fewer crowds, lusher scenery, and it forces you to slow down and appreciate the journey (hiding from amazing monsoonal storms will do that). Check out our Top 5 monsoon destinations and their weather patterns below. And don't forget your umbrella.

Aug 26, 2016

Mar 31, 2016

Spoiler alert: when it comes to Asia, there’s really never a bad time to visit.

Packing Guides

When it comes to packing, we recommend a less is more approach. Some of our itineraries have restrictions on how much your luggage can weigh (you'll find all the details in the essential information section on the trip page). These restrictions are in place on the majority of trekking trips for our porters' protection, and also on trips that involve internal flights; the local airline often has restrictions we need to abide by. Want to know how to pack your bag like a Tetris pro? Check out our handy guides.